187 XXIV. 191 XXV. 196 XXVI. 212 XXVII. 222 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS _To face page_ Marianne and Amelia _Hoppner_ _Frontispiece_ Mrs. Inchbald _Romney_ 4 Robert Mayne, M.P. for Upper Gatton _Reynolds_ 10 Beppo _Reynolds_ 12 Peg Woffington _Hogarth_ 16 Children Playing at Soldiers _G. Morland_ 18 The Apple-Stealers _G. Morland_ 20 The Fortune-teller _Reynolds_ 22 Mousehold Heath _Cotman_ 56 Lewis the Actor _Gainsborough_ 76 Approach to Venice _Turner_ 80 Miss Ridge _Reynolds_ 82 Sir Joshua Reynolds _Reynolds_ 84 The Green Room at Drury Lane _Hogarth_ 88 The Leslie Boy _Raeburn_ 92 The Cottage by the Wood _Nasmyth_ 96 On the Seashore _Bonington_ 154 The Fish Market, Boulogne _Bonington_ 180 Miss Ross _Raeburn_ 198 Lady Crosbie _Reynolds_ 214 Dolorès _Reynolds_ 222 CHAPTER I _If there were dreams to sell What would you buy? Some cost a passing bell Some a light sigh. That shakes from Life’s full crown Only a rose-leaf down, If there were dreams to sell, Merry and sad to tell And the crier rang the bell, What would you buy?_ THOMAS L. BEDDOES Natalie had been left downstairs, there was no doubt about it. She was not in her cradle, she was not in the toy cupboard, she was not on the shelf, she was not on the dresser; she must be downstairs on one of the drawing-room tables, and what is more, face downwards.